Bandung residents protest over hotel project

Bandung residents protest over hotel project

Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post/Bandung

Hundreds of Punclut residents, environmentalists and artists
protested on the streets of Bandung on Thursday, rejecting the
planned construction of a hotel and resort in Punclut, a water
catchment area in North Bandung.

The protesters criticized Bandung Mayor Dada Rosada for
issuing a permit for PT Dam Utama Sakti Prima (DUSP) to turn 60-
hectare plot in Punclut into a tourism and business project. They
said the permit violated regional regulations that designate
Punclut as part of a water catchment, and could worsen floods
during the rainy season and cause water shortages in the dry
season.

A performing arts show kicked off the protest, the second such
protest, and was followed by a speech in front of the Gedung Sate
building, which houses the Bandung City Council and governor's
office.

Sobirin, an expert member from the Council of the Sunda
Territory Environmental Observer who took part in the protest,
criticized the mayor for issuing a permit at a time when many
people were demanding stricter control of the North Bandung
conservation area.

Moreover, he said the alleged construction of an access road
by PT DUSP following the issuance of permit No. 593/01-DBM/05 on
Jan. 12 was against local bylaw No. 2/2004 on Bandung's spatial
planning. Article 100 of the bylaw cites that no new road access
is allowed in the Punclut area to maintain its green space.

"It's a strange policy of a mayor to allow a conservation area
to be developed instead of being rehabilitated," Sobirin said.

PT DUSP president director Fandam Darmawan, on the sidelines
of a seminar on Punclut organized by the Indonesian Geologists
Association in West Java and Banten, told reporters that he only
acted as executor of the permit.

He said that only 20 percent of the 60-hectare site would be
developed, while the rest would remain a green area.

"If we (go on) with construction, we'd be helping to preserve
water... we'll build an environmentally friendly residential area
that will be comfortable for its residents and local people in
the vicinity," Fandam said on Thursday.

He said the disadvantages did not outweigh the project's
advantages, and his company was just waiting for Bandung
administration approval to start construction. He said that so
far, no development had started apart from a regreening project
in a hilly area.

Geologist Hardoyo Rajiwiryono disagreed with protesters,
saying that based on the latest satellite image, Punclut was not
the main water catchment, but a small one where construction
should be allowed.

According to Bandung's water resources office data, around
6,020 hectares of reservoirs, or around 70 percent of water
catchments in North Bandung, had been damaged due to residential
development.